Office of the Police Ombudsman

for Northern Ireland

Mrs. Iris Robinson:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the religious affiliation is of those employed in the Office of the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland; which groups were consulted prior to the creation of the Office; what the breakdown is by postcode of where complaints were made from since the creation of the Office; and what costs were incurred by the Office in the last year. [20371]

Jane Kennedy:
The religious affiliation of the Police Ombudsman's office which currently employs 108 staff is 46.2 per cent. Protestant, 34.6 per cent. Catholic and 19.2 per cent. others.

Before the Office of the Police Ombudsman was set up, the Northern Ireland Office set up a steering group which was representative of all the main stakeholders, including the police, police staff associations and the Police Authority.

The costs incurred by the Police Ombudsman's Office January 2001 to October 2001 are £3.74 million.

8 Jan 2002 : Column: 573W

The table shows the breakdown by postcode of complaints received to date:

Postcode

Number of complaints

BT1

56

BT2

1

BT4

46

BT5

86

BT6

38

BT7

90

BT8

40

BT8

92

BT10

12

BT11

85

BT12

183

BT13

130

BT14

262

BT15

169

BT16

20

BT17

80

BT18

28

BT19

66

BT20

44

BT21

8

BT22

27

BT23

100

BT24

30

BT25

9

BT26

3

BT27

23

BT28

67

BT29

13

BT30

119

BT31

7

BT32

34

BT33

20

BT34

62

BT35

39

BT36

87

BT37

36

BT38

76

BT39

25

BT40

48

BT41

80

BT43

75

BT44

19

BT45

34

BT46

8

BT47

95

BT48

128

BT49

45

BT51

38

BT52

58

BT53

18

BT54

2

BT55

7

BT56

15

BT57

2

BT60

34

BT61

38

BT62

91

BT63

34

BT64

4

BT65

42

BT66

33

BT67

24

BT70

20

BT71

42

BT74

1

BT75

3

BT76

2

BT77

56

BT78

61

BT79

63

BT80

10

BT81

87

BT82

54

BT92

18

BT93

7

BT94

21

Outside Northern Ireland

5

Unknown

220

8 Jan 2002 : Column: 574W

Police Service

Mrs. Iris Robinson:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland on what date new recruits to the reformed Police Service of Northern Ireland will complete their training in 2002. [22921]

Jane Kennedy:
The first intake of new recruits to the Police Service of Northern Ireland will complete their initial training on 4 April 2002. Those that complete the training successfully will be attested as Constables on 5 April 2002, and will then undergo an eight week period of combined operational training. This will be followed by a period of 'tutorship' in District Command Units, beginning on 10 June 2002, before recruits are posted to their individual stations on 19 August 2002.

Further tranches of recruits will complete this training schedule approximately every five weeks thereafter.

SOLICITOR-GENERAL

Race Crime

Jeremy Corbyn:
To ask the Solicitor-General how many cases of (a) incitement to race hatred and (b) racist violence have been brought before courts in England and Wales; and of these how many have been successful in each of the past three years. [25229]

The Solicitor-General:
Records for prosecutions for incitement of racial hatred under part III of the Public Order Act 1986 have been kept since 1988. The records relate to the year that the application for consent to prosecute was dealt with and so it is not possible to state with any certainty how many prosecutions resulted in convictions in any given year. The number of applications for consent to prosecute for each year since 1999 and the number of convictions resulting from the prosecutions are summarised in the table.

Consent applications and prosecutions since 1999 under part III of the Public Order Act 1986

1999

2000

2001

Number of Attorney-General consent applications(3)

4

5

8

Withdrawn







Not granted







Prosecuted

4

5

8

Convicted(4)

3

(5)2

(6)

(3) Per defendant.

(4) Not necessarily in same year.

(5) One result outstanding. One prosecution stayed on ill health grounds.

(6) Results awaited.

Note:

1. Data for prosecutions of racist violent offences are included in figures published annually by the Home Office. The offences covered are racially aggravated offences under the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, which came into force on 30 September 1998. The racially aggravated (RA) offences are:

(i) RA wounding or inflicting grievous bodily harm.

(ii) RA actual bodily harm.

(iii) RA common assault.

(iv) RA intentional harassment alarm or distress.

(v) RA offence of harassment.

(vi) RA putting people in fear of violence.

8 Jan 2002 : Column: 575W

The figures supplied by the Home Office for 1999 and 2000 (data for 2001 not available) are given as follows on a principal offence basis.

Year

Prosecuted

Convicted

1999

1,330

451

2000(7)

2,342

878

(7) Staffordshire police force was only able to submit sample data for persons dealt with at magistrates' courts for the year 2000. Although sufficient to estimate higher orders of data, these data are not robust at a detailed level and have been excluded from this table.

WALES

Abandoned Vehicles

Mark Tami:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what the cost was to each county council in Wales of removing and disposing of abandoned vehicles in the last year. [25139]

Mr. Paul Murphy:
That is a matter for the National Assembly for Wales.

Energy Efficiency

Mr. Llwyd:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) what steps his Department is taking to ensure delivery of energy efficiency services to rural areas; [23948]

(2) what representations he has received concerning constraints on delivery of energy efficiency services to rural areas. [23951]

Mr. Meacher:
I have been asked to reply.

General energy efficiency advice is available through Energy Efficiency Advice Centres (EEACs). A network of 52 centres around the country provides advice to all areas. In addition, the Environment and Energy Helpline is available for businesses, whatever their location, to provide guidance and advice.

The Government's main grant programme for improving the energy efficiency of private sector households is the Home Energy Efficiency Scheme (HEES). The two scheme managersEaga Partnerships Ltd. and TXU Warm Front Ltd.are responsible for marketing the programme across the country. Both scheme managers provide regular progress reports on the effectiveness of these programmes.

They use a variety of methods including working with health professionals such as practice nurses and health visitors together with social workers and others involved in the health or welfare of vulnerable clients. The scheme managers also enter into partnerships with bodies such

8 Jan 2002 : Column: 576W

as travelling libraries, which visit rural communities on a regular basis, and Meals on Wheels. In addition, a travelling bus has been used as a focal point to reach those in outlying areas.

One of the five Warm Zones the Government are piloting has been set up in Northumberland to test an area, rather than a referral-based mechanism, for reaching the fuel poor. The purpose is to test whether this improves the take-up of the scheme in rural areas.

The Government are aware that the construction of some rural properties coupled with lack of access to the main gas network can make it difficult to make homes energy efficient. The Fuel Poverty Strategy sets out our intention to carry out large scale pilots using renewable energy sources and micro combined heat and power to explore how these technologies could be used to help the fuel poor.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Afghanistan

14. Mr. Lazarowicz:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on UK participation in peacekeeping activities in Afghanistan. [23008]

Mr. Bradshaw:
As outlined by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence in a statement to this House on 19 November 2001, the United Kingdom has agreed to take on the lead nation role in the International Security Assistance Force. The core mission of the ISAF will be to assist in the maintenance of security in Kabul and the surrounding area so as to help in the establishment of the Interim Authority and the initial activities of the United Nations.

18. Rev. Martin Smyth:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the political settlement in Afghanistan and its impact on international terrorism. [23012]

Mr. Bradshaw:
As my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary said on 5 December,

"The signing on 5 December of the Agreement on Afghanistan's future is a significant achievement. It is a victory for the coalition against terrorism. A stable Afghanistan, with a broad-based government, is as important to our own security as it is to the Afghan people."

The new interim administration has already indicated its willingness to co-operate with the UK on information- sharing on alleged terrorists.

36. David Wright:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with the President of Pakistan on the future Government of Afghanistan. [23031]

Mr. Bradshaw:
During his visit to Pakistan on 2223 November, my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary discussed the situation in Afghanistan with President Musharraf. The Secretary of State expressed our continuing appreciation for President Musharraf's courageous decision to support the fight against terrorism and the practical assistance that Pakistan has provided. The Secretary of State also discussed the situation in Pakistan and sought President Musharraf's advice on how

8 Jan 2002 : Column: 577W

best to achieve our shared objective of a broad-based multi-ethnic Government in Afghanistan. The Prime Minister also met President Musharraf on his visit to Pakistan on 7 January and paid tribute to President Musharraf's role in the international coalition.

Paul Flynn:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what estimate he has made of the level of the cultivation of heroin poppy crops in Afghanistan in (a) 200203 and (b) 200304; and what the level was in 200102. [24390]

Mr. Bradshaw:
It is impossible to predict what level of opium cultivation there will be in Afghanistan in 200203 and 200304. We hope the economic reconstruction programme will develop alternative livelihoods for opium poppy farmers. Under the agreement reached in Bonn the Interim Administration would co-operate with the international community in the fight against drugs. We now look to the Interim Administration to live up to this commitment with the help of the international community.

The planting season for the 200102 opium poppy crop is now drawing to a close. No reliable estimate of the level of cultivation will be available until February 2002 when UNDCP propose to conduct a limited survey. The results of the comprehensive UNDCP survey will not be available until September 2002.